“QUITE DISAPPOINTING” and “highly embarrassing” were among the terms used by noted historian Trevor Marshall (below) to describe the closed Bridgetown that thousands of cruise tourists met over the holiday weekend.
In fact, Marshall, who was spotted by a NATION team showing two tourists the features of the historic St Mary’s Anglican Church through a closed and locked gate, said he felt like “Robinson Crusoe, without even a Man Friday to help save the day”.
Marshall, who routinely conducts structured walking tours through Historic Bridgetown for visitors to the island, said he was astounded and embarrassed to find not only St Mary’s closed, but also the Jewish Synagogue, St Michael’s Cathedral and the Bethel Methodist Church, all major attractions.
He noted too that the absence of an organised approach to responding to the influx of cruise ship passengers meant that while on the streets on Boxing Day, he saw none of the other noted Barbadians who also conducted tours through The City, including Sir Henry Fraser, Dr Karl Watson, Professor Pedro Welch, Morris Greenidge and Kevin Farmer. (RRM)
Please read the full story in today’s Daily Nation, or in the eNATION edition.